Pattern: Colour Shift Cowl

My mother has received a lot of compliments about the Colour Shift Cowl I made for her for Christmas (after she admired the one I made for myself) and I've had a few people ask about the pattern - so it's time to write it up. This one is fairly simple, and all you need to know is: knit and purl stitches, knitting in the round, how to knit together and how to lift a stitch from the row below (there's a link to a tutorial for that). There is an option for a fancy cast on/bind off but this is easily replaced by any other technique you prefer.

Let's jump right in, shall we?

76" size, shown here in Wool of the Andes Tweed, 'Oyster' and 'Indigo' heathers.

Size: the cowl is available in two sizes - small (30" x 15", which is more snug and works better with slouchy yarn) and large (76" x 10", which loops loosely twice around the neck). Instructions for the larger size are shown, with the smaller in brackets after.

Yarn: 155 (330) yards of each colour A and B in worsted weight. The smaller size benefits from a more slouchy yarn - mine is made in alpaca.

Gauge: 5 stitches and 7 rows per inch

Needles: US 6 (4.0mm) circular needle of a comfortable length for the size you're making

Note: if adjusting the stitch count, whether to substitute a different yarn weight or change the dimensions, make sure that you cast on a number of stitches that when divided by two will result in an even number (ie 380/2 = 190, but 378/2 = 189) so that the ribbing pattern will line up.

Charts and brief instructions can be found at the bottom of the page for anybody who doesn't want to follow the long-form directions - it's a fairly repetitive pattern once you get the hang of it.

Abbreviations:

• K: knit
• P: purl
• L1: lift up the right bar of the first stitch on the row below (see picture below) and place it up on the left needle. Knit that and the current row's first stitch together. This is the jogless stripe method and hides the seam by making the first stitch of the row longer. It's not invisible but it looks a lot nicer than the 'jagged' join we would get otherwise.

Lifting the stitch for L1.

Full Directions

Cast On* 380 (152) stitches in Colour A, place a marker and join to work in the round - be careful not to twist your stitches when you join, especially if you're making the bigger size. If you're concerned about this you can work the first row or two flat and join your knitting at the end of that, which can make this easier. You can seam up the join when you weave in your tail from the cast on.

*A stretchy cast on works better for a slouchier cowl, a more sturdy one will help it keep its shape. Jeny's Slip-Knot Cast On is a great one for stretch, or if you're comfortable with a crochet hook I find the crochet cast on to have a really neat, pretty edge to it. If you really want to get fancy I am in love with the look of the I-Cord Cast On - you can see it used on the pictured 76" cowl above. It's a little slow, though, so be prepared to really commit to it if you want to use this one (but it does look lovely, especially when paired with the corresponding bind off).

Row 1: *(K2, P2) *repeat to end, slipping your marker at the end of each row.

Repeat Row 1 seven (nine) more times - eight (ten) rows total.

Join Colour B

Row 9 (11): knit around. This knit row will be hidden by the ribbing on each side and eliminates the out of place colour bumps that we would get otherwise from the purl stitches.

* if you are knitting the 30" version you have an extra row to knit here, as the second colour block has two rows in it (the 76" only has one). If you are knitting the 76" version, skip to below the next image and continue at "Row 10 (13)" *

Row (12): L1, K1, P2, *(K2, P2) *repeat to end of row.

The middle heart is right on the join between rows, as you can tell by the right side being higher than the left - this is what the L1 is designed to help hide.

Join Colour A

Row 10 (13): Knit around.

Row 11 (14): L1, K1, P2, *(K2, P2) *repeat to end of row.

Row 12 (15): *(K2, P2) *repeat to end of row.

Repeat Row 12 (15) four (six) more times - colour block is seven (nine) rows total.


Join Colour B

Row 17 (22): Knit around.

Row 18 (23): L1, K1, P2, *(K2, P2) *repeat to end of row.

Row (24); *(K2, P2) *repeat to end of row.


Join Colour A

Row 19 (25): Knit around.

Row 20 (26): L1, K1, P2, *(K2, P2) *repeat to end of row.

Row 21 (27): *(K2, P2) *repeat to end of row.

Repeat Row 21 (27) three (five) more times - colour block is six (eight) rows total.


Join Colour B

Row 25 (33): Knit around.

Row 26 (34): L1, K1, P2, *(K2, P2) *repeat to end of row.

Row 27 (35): *(K2, P2) *repeat to end of row.

Repeat Row (35) (one) more time(s) - colour block is three (four) rows total.


Join Colour A

Row 28 (37): Knit around.

Row 29 (38): L1, K1, P2, *(K2, P2) *repeat to end of row.

Row 30 (39): *(K2, P2) *repeat to end of row.

Repeat Row 30 (39) two (four) more times - colour block is five (seven) rows total.


Join Colour B

Row 33 (44): Knit around.

Row 34 (45): L1, K1, P2, *(K2, P2) *repeat to end of row.

Row 35 (46): *(K2, P2) *repeat to end of row.

Repeat Row 35 (46) one (two) more times - colour block is four (five) rows total.


Join Colour A

Row 37 (49): Knit around.

Row 38 (50): L1, K1, P2, *(K2, P2) *repeat to end of row.

Row 39 (51): *(K2, P2) *repeat to end of row.

Repeat Row 39 (51) one (three) more times - colour block is four (six) rows total.


Join Colour B

Row 41 (55): Knit around.

Row 42 (56): L1, K1, P2, *(K2, P2) *repeat to end of row.

Row 43 (57): *(K2, P2) *repeat to end of row.

Repeat Row 43 (57) two (three) more times - colour block is five (six) rows total.


Join Colour A

Row 46 (61): Knit around.

Row 47 (62): L1, K1, P2, *(K2, P2) *repeat to end of row.

Row 48 (63): *(K2, P2) *repeat to end of row.

Repeat Row (63) (two) more time(s) - colour block is three (five) rows total.


Join Colour B

Row 49 (66): Knit around.

Row 50 (67): L1, K1, P2, *(K2, P2) *repeat to end of row.

Row 51 (68): *(K2, P2) *repeat to end of row.

Repeat Row 51 (68) three (four) more times - colour block is six (seven) rows total.


Join Colour A

Row 55 (73): Knit around.

Row 56 (74): L1, K1, P2, *(K2, P2) *repeat to end of row.

Row (75): *(K2, P2) *repeat to end of row.

Repeat Row (75) (two) more times - colour block is two (four) rows total.


Join Colour B

Row 57 (77): Knit around.

Row 58 (78): L1, K1, P2, *(K2, P2) *repeat to end of row.

Row 59 (79): *(K2, P2) *repeat to end of row.

Repeat Row 59 (79) four (five) more times - colour block is seven (eight) rows total.


Join Colour A

Row 64 (85): Knit around.

Row (86): L1, K1, P2, *(K2, P2) *repeat to end of row.

Row (87): *(K2, P2) *repeat to end of row.

Colour block is one (three) rows total.


Join Colour B

Row 65: L1, knit around.

Row (88): Knit around.

Row 66 (89): L1, K1, P2, *(K2, P2) *repeat to end of row.

Row 67 (90): *(K2, P2) *repeat to end of row.

Repeat Row 67 (90) five (six) more times - colour block is eight (nine) rows total.

* The 76" size casts off here - the 30" has two more colour blocks to do - so skip down to the cast off section if you're making the larger size *

Join Colour A

Row (97): Knit around.

Row (98): L1, K1, P2, *(K2, P2) *repeat to end of row.

Join Colour B

Row (99): Knit around.

Row (100): L1, K1, P2, *(K2, P2) *repeat to end of row.

Row (101): *(K2, P2) *repeat to end of row.

Repeat Row (101) (seven) more times - colour block is (ten) rows total.

30" size, here shown in a handspun alpaca yarn in powder blue and light chocolate brown.

Bind Off! If you used the I-Cord Cast On it's time for the corresponding I-Cord Bind Off, if you went for a stretchy cast on use a similarly stretchy bind off - such as the Sewn Bind Off or the Simple Stretchy Bind Off. The main thing is to try to pick one that matches the elasticity of your cast on so that your cowl will keep a nice shape and not end up a trapezoid (don't worry if it does - it won't really be noticeable).

Wash, block gently (don't stretch the ribbing out too much when blocking or it will lose its elasticity) and then enjoy!

Short Form Instructions 

Colour block chart for the 30" size.

Cast On 380 (152) stitches and join to knit in the round. The first row after a colour change is knit plain - all others are knit in K2, P2 rib. To avoid the jagged join between colour changes, the first stitch of the first ribbing row (not the plain knit rows) of each section is knit together with the stitch below it (see the jogless stripes tutorial here for more information).

You will be decreasing the number of rows in each section of Colour A while increasing the number of rows in each section of Colour B.

The 30" size (pictured above) begins with ten rows of Colour A and two rows of Colour B, and ends with two rows of Colour A and ten rows of Colour B.

The 76" size (pictured below) begins with eight rows of Colour A and one row of Colour B, and ends with one row of Colour A and eight rows of Colour B.

Then bind off. The 30" size benefits from a stretchier cast on and bind off edge while the 76" size can have a sturdier edge if desired, such as the I-Cord edging (which is slow but looks lovely).

Colour block chart for the 76" size.

If you spot any mistakes or have any questions please don't hesitate to ask in the comments below (someone else might be wondering the same thing).